The Five Stories Of Standard Carrier Shoukaku
by Tusjecht
Summary: A tale of Shoukaku, the two men whom she comes to love, and who come to love her back. The tides of war sweep her to the frontlines and into the vices of Port Yokosuka. At the decisive moment, will she choose what is expected of her, or what she wants for herself? Updated weekly every Wednesday!
1. The Introduction 1

**Extended Summary** : Shoukaku has been serving as Secretary Ship to Admiral Seiji for two years until a new Admiral is given command of her: the future Chief of Navy, Amagawa Teiichi, the youngest son of the Amagawa Clan famous for producing many successful and powerful Admirals. Drawn into the sticky web of politics and sex, Shoukaku, unable to decide which man she loves, must decide between doing what is right and what she wants.

 **Author's Note** : I will confess that I do not play Kancolle and neither have I watched the anime. While I do enjoy keeping and collecting art of the shipgirls from time to time, they have never struck me as particularly worth the effort to make a story around them. A particularly detailed dream last Thursday changed all that. On Saturday, I finished a 4000 word outline, and this evening, I am writing the first chapter. I apologise if I make any glaring errors in technical details and such.

This story is rated M for sexual content.

I will work to updates this story on a weekly basis every Wednesday afternoon, since all I have to do is to follow the outline I've written for myself. Let's go, then.

.-.

 **The Five Stories Of Standard Carrier _Shoukaku_**

 **Chapter One: The Introduction Part 1**

.-.

"Good morning, Admiral!"

"Ah, g'morning, Shoukaku."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, "You're more awake today than usual. What's the occasion?"

Honda Seiji, still rubbing his eyes as he slouched in his office chair, shrugged. "Performance and bonuses. The unofficial results are out today, and while I'm definitely getting something here," he pointed at the chest of his dress uniform, creaseless and hung on the wall, "I'm not sure if I'll get anything... Here." He tapped the sleeve, where his rank epaulette would be attached.

Shoukaku smiled and nodded. "Ah, would that be the medal for the Battle of Boxing Day? It feels like only yesterday when we were out there repelling the force..."

"...And in typical Navy fashion, they deliver it late. Bah. I'll be heading for the meeting; just take care of training." Seiji checked his wristwatch and reached behind him for his headdress.

Shoukaku took Seiji's dress uniform off from its hangar and examined it in the mirror, checking that all the various patches and pins were in order. There was a blank space on the right chest of the uniform, one that would soon be marked as proof of the most recent victory. _Their_ most recent victory. The Battle of Boxing Day, Shoukaku remembered, was unusual in that Admiral Seiji had even come to the front line to fight with her, rather than remain safely at base and give orders in the security of Port Yokosuka. Indeed, he had had his reasons for doing so, but Shoukaku still wondered why would he even go to such lengths for her sake.

It is not uncommon for naval officers to develop relationships with their secretary ships, and yet...

Seiji gently took the uniform from Shoukaku's hands. "Thanks," he said as he put it on, "And I'll see you later, I guess? Maybe today will be a peaceful day!" He laughed nervously.

Peace in wartime? Preposterous! But that did not stop Shoukaku from hoping. She gently buttoned up his uniform, feeling his breath slow down and deepen below her fingers. "Have a good day, Admiral!" she said.

"I will."

Seiji left his office and Shoukaku behind as he made his way to the conference room. Many of his colleagues were walking about, carrying files and cups of coffee while their secretary shipgirls in battle dress accompanied them. Reaching the conference room, he knocked twice and entered. Most of the key personnel weren't there yet, save for Ooyodo, secretary ship for Admiral Miyamoto.

"G'morning, Ooyodo," Seiji greeted. "After today, can we expect the sun to rise in the West tomorrow?"

Ooyodo remain unfettered as she read from the stack of papers before her. "Good morning Admiral Seiji. I see you are victorious as ever on the seas but inept as ever in greeting others. Would you like some tea?"

Seiji accepted the plastic cup of the cheap, surplus tea and sipped as Miyamoto himself and a few other senior officers entered the room and took seats. "Shall we begin?" The thin, greying Admiral Miyamoto, Base Commander for Yokosuka Port, looked around at the assembled men and received no objections. "Very well."

Copies of the meeting notes were passed around. "Alright, first and foremost. Some of you might have heard the rumours, some of you might not have. I am here to tell you it is no rumour."

Miyamoto paused and sipped the bitter-tasting tea. "The Amagawa clan's youngest member is coming here."

The mood of the room changed. Soured, if you will, but with a tinge of curiosity. "Amagawa? Would you be referring to Amagawa Teiichi by any chance?" The heavyset Head of Logistics asked.

"The one and only," Miyamoto said. "And his father is quite insistent that he be given a good shipgirl."

Admiral Satoshi, a quiet man with a receding hairline, narrowed his eyes and leaned forwards. "Admiral Miyamoto, pardon me, but are you suggesting that one of our flagships be handed to him? And especially when all of the present company just happen to be the nominees for promotion and merit awards tomorrow?" He looked around at his fellow officers as he said. "I find the timing of this development most unfortunate."

Seiji shifted uneasily in his seat. The lengths the Navy would go to to whip their own men, never mind the shipgirls, how was this even allowed? The answer to that was surely upon Miyamoto's mouth.

"The Amagawa clan is well-known for bearing three of the last four Chiefs of Navy in the last century," Miyamoto said, "Each Chief was tremendously successful in stopping Abyssal incursions and pushing back the frontline. It should go without saying that the future Chief's most appropriate place to begin is right here, the present frontline. Already, they have in mind a suitable shipgirl for _Admiral_ Teiichi," he emphasised. Miyamoto's gaze shifted to his left to look directly at Seiji.

"Oh gods, no. Not like this," Seiji thought.

"Admiral Seiji," Miyamoto spoke slowly and deliberately, "The Amagawa clan is most impressed with your combat record, especially after the Boxing Day Battle. They see that you and the armoured carrier group have adapted very well to fighting on the frontlines, with the constant threat of Abyssal ships on our doorstep. Therefore..."

Miyamoto let the axe fall. "It is recommended that you shall handover command of Standard Carrier Shoukaku to Admiral Teiichi, effective this week."

"You can't be serious," Seiji blurted out. "Standard Carrier Shoukaku and I work very closely together. Our combat performance is proof. You would simply substitute me on the word of a clan?"

"An old and powerful clan, Admiral Seiji," Miyamoto corrected.

"But this is tantamount to meddling in our affairs!" Satoshi chimed in, "None of us here have commanded for less than five years. Admiral Seiji's record is unparalleled amongst us. At least reconsider the choice!"

"Trust me when I say I did not have any hand in this decision." Miyamoto dismissed everyone with a wave of his hand.

Every other officer at the table rolled their eyes. Miyamoto's fondness for alcohol was his most well-known weakness, and more likely than not, his regular visits to the new bar in town had probably been paid for by the Amagawas. Maybe even the bar itself was built by them! Seiji looked to his colleagues for support, but all of them averted their gazes. A vein throbbed in Admiral Satoshi's forehead, but he had run out of counterarguments.

"If you have any other concerns, please, bring them up later. Moving on..." Miyamoto droned, but Seiji was no longer listening. All he could think about was Shoukaku.

How long has it been since he treasured Shoukaku's company? When she entered his life as his first carrier to command, did she somehow slip into his heart as well?

Long after the meeting was over, Seiji pondered these questions as he slipped into his office, uncorked the bottle of whiskey, and took a long swig of the fiery stuff. Swallowing it down, he held down the burn for as long as he could before finally breaking into a coughing fit, and capped the bottle reluctantly. It was only the afternoon - he didn't yet have the liberty of being as drunk as he liked on the job.

It shouldn't be happening, and yet it did. Seiji has always heard stories and gossip about officers getting overly-familiar with their shipgirls. The shipgirl's apparent naivety, outward appearance, and sexual innocence made for a potent object of desires -and not for the first time, Seiji could believe why some officers tried to initiate relationships with some of them. Those never ended well, or so he thought - if the many rules and regulations prohibiting 'unprofessional' relations between officers and shipgirls meant anything, it was that at the very least, one shouldn't mix up work and pleasure.

But this was different. There was no pleasure. There wasn't anything to mix up to begin with, but if that was really the case, why was he so reluctant? For a man used to giving orders, ironically he was having trouble following one himself.

Was he in love with Shoukaku? Surely not. Seiji tried to recall some of his older relationships, those flings. A crush in middle school, his first girlfriend in highschool, and several others he had cut contact with before signing up, those never seemed remotely close to love. Hell, he had never even kissed Shoukaku, let alone intimated his thoughts or feelings.

Maybe he really needed that second swig of whiskey after all. Seiji reached into the cupboard for the bottle again.

.-.

"All in a day's work, eh? You're a real piece of work, sister!" Zuikaku pouted and blew a raspberry at Shoukaku as they headed back to the main building from the archery range. With no sorties for either of them this week, Zuikaku had taken to the range with a burning vengeance to one-up Shoukaku's score, and one-up she did - but it was Shoukaku's score last week. It was her calm hands and steady breathing that let Shoukaku edge out her sister ship by a single point.

"You're so competitive, Zuikaku. You didn't even realise you were distracting Kaga with your exaggerated concentration! That might explain why she went off early." Shoukaku nudged her with her elbow. "You should be thankful she didn't complain at all."

"But it's Kaga," Zuikaku shot back, "She averages five words a day and seven facial expressions a week. It's normal for her! Anyway, whatcha up to later? Getting dinner with us, or... Ad-Mi-Ral?" Zuikaku teased.

Shoukaku's cheeks coloured slightly. "Well, I should go check in with him. He hasn't paged all day, and I'm curious to find out about tomorrow's arrangements anyway. I'll see you later!"

Zuikaku turned left to head for the showers. "Akashi is coming later! Don't ask how I dragged her out!" She waved and skipped away, leaving Shoukaku to make her way into the main building. Soon enough, she reached Seiji's office, but just as she was about to open the door, she heard a low, familiar groan.

"Admiral? Are you okay?" She tried the knob and found it unlocked. "I'm coming in," she called.

It wasn't well-lit on account of being late afternoon, but when Shoukaku flipped the light switch, an unsettling sight met her eyes: Seiji was slumped over his desk, not moving. The stench of whiskey permeated the room - the bottle lay smashed on the ground next to his desk, presumably where it had rolled off.

"Admiral Seiji! Pull yourself together, what happened? How much did you drink?" Shoukaku hurried over to his chair, careful to not step on the shards of glass. "I'll get Housekeeping to clean this up. Just... Just don't vomit or anything, okay? Hey, are you okay?" she asked.

"Mm.. I'm fiiine," Seiji slurred as he blearily opened his eyes, "There... There wasn't a lot left... Anyway."

Shoukaku huffed in annoyance. "You're clearly not fine. You ought to retire to quarters immediately. Can you stand?" She tugged at his sleeve but Seiji was as responsive as a bag of lead bricks.

"Stay... Stay awhile," he mumbled, "Just this little more, before... Before..."

Seiji's head hit his desk with a solid thunk, earning another sigh from Shoukaku. Seiji was hardly a drinker. His one saving grace was that he was not too heavy, and with a little effort, Shoukaku managed to tug him from his chair (which promptly toppled over) to the small two-seater sofa on the adjacent wall. Resting his head in her lap, Shoukaku couldn't help but wonder what would someone think if they were to enter his office this very moment.

Eventually, Seiji finally found the strength to sit up. "Forgive me, Shoukaku," he said, "I am such a disappointment."

The deadpan tone he spoke with irritated Shoukaku. "Disappointment? What are you on about? If the last few weeks have shown, you are no disappointment, Admiral!"

Seiji shook his head. "It's not that," he said, "It's not about that. This be different. I can't do anything about this."

"Okay, and are you going to tell me what's going on, or not?"

Seiji hung his head in his hands. "There's... There's a new Admiral. He's well-known, powerful, and connected. They want to make him next Chief of Navy, and for his flagship... It's you." Seiji threw up his hands like it explained everything.

"I'm not sure I'm following, Admiral," Shoukaku said, "Am I going to be remodelled? Wasn't the purpose of today's meeting to inform you of your promotion?"

Seiji shook his head violently. "No, no, it's not like that! I seriously don't get why they're doing this... Shoukaku," he grabbed her hands in his, "They're gonna kick me off. You won't be my secretary ship by the end of the week, you understand? The son of the Amagawa clan will be coming in, and they're going to give you to him!"

Shoukaku's eyes widened as it became clear to her. "But... But what about our achievements? The battle record? Doesn't Admiral have a say in the matter? Isn't there a way to change the minds of the people involved?"

"I'm glad you think alike, but there's nothing I could do. The decision wasn't mine to make." Seiji found himself repeating Miyamoto's words to his immense disgust. "I can't... Damn, I can't believe I'm even saying the shit he was spouting..."

"Don't say such sad things, Admiral," Shoukaku murmured as she patted his shoulder. "Everything will turn out okay."

Seiji let go of Shoukaku's wrists slowly, only to encircle and squeeze her in an awkward hug. Shoukaku's face was pressed into his shoulder while Seiji nuzzled her neck. As intimate as the gesture was, Shoukaku was not prepared for it, and gasped as she tried to wriggle out of the drunken man's hold. "Admiral? What are you doing?" She exclaimed.

Seiji didn't hear her, or didn't listen. "We've been together... Ever since your commission date, it's always been like this. You're so wonderful, Shoukaku, I wonder what have I done to deserve such a good shipgirl like you..." Snaking an arm around her waist, Seiji tried in vain to pull her onto his lap. Shoukaku squirmed and tried to free herself from his grip. "Admiral! Admiral Seiji! Get a grip on yourself!" Something warm and wet could be felt on her shoulder - was that Seiji tearing up? The smell of drink was coming off him in waves.

"I don't want... To let you go," Seiji growled into her ear. His hand slipped down, found her backside, and squeezed painfully.

Shoukaku's chest began to feel tight. Faced with the incriminate invasion of her space and body, she shut her eyes tight and pushed away as hard as she could, grunting with the effort. Her arms strained with the effort, but she finally escaped Seiji's grip, knocking him onto his back on the sofa, and allowing her to get to her feet. Shoukaku tugged her battle dress back in place, covering herself. Looking disorientated, Seiji rolled off the sofa and landed on his knees with a loud thud.

"I'll.. I'll be going now. Bye!" Shoukaku stammered as she backed out of his office. Not staying to hear his response, she race-walked to the showers, praying she wouldn't run into anyone else. She descended the stairs in record time and reached the showers just as Zuikaku exited the bathroom, tying up her still-wet hair.

"Hey Shoukaku- Whoa, are you alright? That's a serious look you have there!"

"Can we leave soon? Please? Have you got a spare set of clothes? I realised I've left my stuff back in... Ugh, never mind!" Shoukaku shifted from one foot to the other, scanning their surroundings as though she expected Admiral Seiji to roll out from behind the nearest pillar. She flinched when Zuikaku reached out to grasp her hands, earning an odd look.

"Shoukaku, what happened? You're awfully jumpy all of a sudden! Did something happen to you?"

"Just let me shower first," Shoukaku said, reaching for Zuikaku's bag, "I'll tell you later at dinner."

 **tbc.**


	2. The Introduction 2

**The Five Stories Of Standard Carrier _Shoukaku_**

 **Chapter One: The Introduction Part 2**

.-.

"And," Shoukaku paused, struggling to finish the recollection, "He, I mean, his hands, he... Moved, and... He touched me. It was disgusting." She spat out the last words as though it was unclean. She _felt_ unclean. The many wet wipes she had borrowed from Zuikaku never felt like it fully removed the dampness of Seiji's mouth or the musk of whiskey that clung to it.

To her credit, Zuikaku did not scream, break out in tears, or do anything of the sort. The sister shipgirl bit her lip as she poured Shoukaku a cup of tea from the pot, though the slight tremble of her hand was plain to herself and Akashi, who was sitting by the side and was wide-eyed as Shoukaku recounted the events. Shoukaku gratefully accepted the warm tea and drank deeply; the warm liquid served to calm her nerves somewhat.

"Admirals are the worst," Zuikaku cursed quietly under her breath. "I don't mind fighting for them, but that doesn't mean... That doesn't mean we allow that kind of thing to happen. Don't you think so?"

Shoukaku murmured in agreement, and even Akashi put down her cup and nodded solemnly. "Shoukaku, this may be the first time you've encountered this situation, but I have seen and listened to other shipgirls talk about this. If you ever need assistance, you can come find me as well."

"We'll support you all the way," Zuikaku declared. "Untill that bastard admiral apologises or gets his comeuppance, I won't let him lay a finger on you!"

She couldn't help but tear up in the face of such fervent assurances from Zuikaku and Akashi. Dabbing at her eyes with a napkin, Shoukaku whispered, "Thank you. Thank you both."

"Cheer up, sis!" Zuikaku grinned as a waitress entered their booth with a tray full of steaming dishes, fish, and rice. "We're here to eat and drink the best I, the best carrier in CarDiv 5, can find this side of Port Yokosuka! We'll eat more than Kaga could ever hope to order! Akashi will get drunk and start complaining about Yamato and her repair costs! We'll be here all night trashtalking shitty admirals until you stop frowning and you start smiling!"

Akashi promptly spilled her tea as several girls sniggered from outside their both. "Zuikaku!" she held out for just a moment, before collapsing into a fit of giggles. Just then, the first bucket of cheap beer was delivered to their table.

Even Shoukaku had to gasp in mock horror. "Akashi, I take it that you've never seen Zuikaku get drunk before?"

Akashi counted the bottles in the bucket. "How are the three of us going to share _twelve_ beers?"

"We're not!" Zuikaku was already cracking open the coldest bottle she could find. "That's one for you and ten for me!"

.-.

Unsurprisingly, Zuikaku had to take an off-day the next morning by virtue of not being sober enough. For better or for worse, Shoukaku barely saw Admiral Seiji the entire morning and afternoon - save for some pleasantries in the morning, Admiral Seiji had decided to jot down everything into a small notepad for himself, and instead assigned Shoukaku a couple of tasks that would keep her busy.

Then as the shipgirls were gathered in the Port's spacious auditorium, only the dumbest of shipgirls could fail to notice the large banner hung on the stage:

'CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY'

Naval officers in white dress uniforms gathered and sat down next to the shipgirls. The lights dimmed slightly and a spotlight opened up over the pedastal, where Admiral Miyamoto rose to give a speech. Behind him, Admiral Seiji and several other officers were seated with their hands on their knees, their expressions tense and their mouths thin.

As she was looking them over, Seiji looked to the audience, and he found Shoukaku just as her gaze fell on him. His stomach lurched and he looked away immediately, pretending to check out the assortment of brass in the front row.

So much for remorse... He had wanted to apologise to Shoukaku as soon as he could, but at the last second he had reflexively begun going over the day's schedule when they first met that morning. She seemed to have gone with the flow, not wanting to breach the subject either, so that had seemed that that was the best for them.

Miyamoto tapped the microphone and began his opening speech. "We welcome the officers and shipgirls gathered today..."

As expected, it was long, dry, and boring. Even the sandwich he had slapped together for his breakfast this morning had more bite than this. Seiji longed for the days when Shoukaku would make him an extra box of food to have for lunch, back when she was newly launched and eager to impress...

' _Bad. Very bad thoughts_.' Seiji immediately shut down his naughty reminiscing brain and tried his darnedest to memorise every word of Miyamoto's speech. Still, his stomach rumbled loudly, prompting Admiral Satoshi besides him to grin.

"May I invite the nominees to step forwards for the awards?" Miyamoto's invitation shook Seiji out of his stupor, and the assembled officers rose from their plastic chairs, standing in a line. The assembled clapped politely and it took all of Seiji's will to not glance at Shoukaku. The guest-of-honour, the Chief of Navy, took a small golden medal shaped like a flower and stood before Seiji. He stiffened reflexively and pushed his chest out in empty pride.

"Well done, Admiral Honda Seiji," the Naval Chief nodded, pinning the flower to his chest. "The Navy will sail smoothly with you at the helm."

"Thank you, sir." Seiji shook hands and saluted. The Chief of Navy returned the salute and moved onto Satoshi.

All the awards were given out to another smattering of applause, and now Seiji really did look at Shoukaku. Yet, the sight of her smiling and politely clapping did little to sooth his nerves or assure him that all was to be well.

The reason for that, he figured, was because it had just walked through the door. Miyamoto was announcing something, Satoshi and the other award recipients were clapping on auto-mode, but Seiji merely went through the motions in a daze.

He was unexpectedly short, probably the same height as Seiji himself or even a little shorter. And yet, every little detail about him seemed to be perfect - his boots were polished to a mirror shine, his uniform had zero creases on it, and he could swear the badge of his peak cap was glowing like a holy deity. As he shook hands and smiled at Miyamoto's introduction, Seiji found himself wondering what was he just so scared of.

"Oh, that's right," he thought to himself, "That's Amagawa Teiichi, and he's taking Shoukaku away."

 **tbc.**

 _Part Two is being released early due to time constraints this week. I'll be completing the rest of it by Friday or Saturday._


	3. The Introduction 3

**The Five Stories Of Standard Carrier _Shoukaku_**

 **Chapter One: The Introduction Part 3**

.-.

The handsome officer strolled confidently up the steps of the stage and shook hands with Admiral Miyamoto. All around her, Shoukaku heard whispers from her fellow shipgirls. Besides the usual _oohs_ and _ahhs_ , Shoukaku thought she heard a snicker from Kongou. If nothing else, she did agree that this new admiral was a bit on the shorter end of the scale. "Is this the new Chief of Navy?" she wondered aloud? "He looks rather... smallish."

"I think so too!" Yuudachi, seated next to Shoukaku, piped up to her surprise, "He kinda doesn't look like Admiral-ish material! Oh sorry, you weren't talking to me? Oh- Hey, where's Zuikaku?"

"She, ah, took the day off today," Shoukaku said, "She got too drunk last night, so I had to fill in her duties for today."

"Ah, that like, makes sense then," Yuudachi made a show of nodding thoughtfully before returning to gossip with her clique. Shoukaku just sighed, only embarrassed that she had forgotten Zuikaku wasn't besides her as she always had. Returning her attention back to the stage, the new Admiral Teiichi. He had begun his speech, and the little diversion with Yuudachi had caused Shoukaku to miss the initial pleasantries.

"...The advancement of the Japanese Navy has been proceeding smoothly over the past few years," Admiral Teiichi spoke confidently and smoothly. "We have continued to capitalise on the changing nature of the battleground, conceptualised and implemented new tactics, sparing no effort to push back the global blockade that the so-called Abyssal Fleet continues to maintain over humanity."

'BATTLE GROUP LAZARUS' - The next slide on-screen read. A photograph occupied the rest of the slide, which Shoukaku was very familiar with. In the middle, Zuikaku and she was seated with Admiral Seiji in the middle. In the back row, five shipgirls stood with folded arms and proud poses: Kagerou, Shiranui, Yukikaze, Amatsukaze,and Akashi. As strange and dysfunctional their group appeared to be, there was a reason they were all smiling widely - this photo had been taken shortly after the victory on Boxing Day. **Their** victory.

"We have devised new and more imaginative operational concepts, recognised the value of adopting naval tactics on the fly to complement standard battle doctrine," Admiral Teiichi said proudly. "Weaknesses in the Abyssal Fleet have been identified and exploited. We stand before the results of these tactics: the Abyssal Fleet is on the brink of collapse, and breaking the blockade they hold over us is now not merely a dream, but a real possibility!"

Whoops and cheers filled the theatre as a slideshow of victorious scenes flashed on screen. Shipgirls sinking Abyssals. Carriers launching squadrons in volleys. Shiranui and Tenryuu collectively chasing out seven Abyssal destroyers while long-range fire support tossed the waters about. In the slow, long war, Admiral Teiichi's speech was a refreshing moral booster.

"And," Admiral Teiichi's voice filled the ears and hearts of everyone present, "And I will make this dream real."

Thunderous applause followed his proclamation. Admiral Teiichi, obviously reveling in the show of approval, had to be reminded by Admiral Nakjima that the ceremony was still ongoing. "Thank you, Admiral Teiichi for that inspiring speech!" he said. "The Navy is in the hands of a good man."

Photographers gathered as the old and new Chiefs of the Navy shook hands onstage and saluted. As the two men handed over the symbol of command - a gold and silver-plated telescope - the cameras never stopped clicking. This was an important part in history, Shoukaku could tell. Or rather, she could feel it. She recalled Admiral Seiji's drunken outburst, the apparent reason for his moment of madness. As far as she could tell, there was nothing to fear from this man, and Shoukaku believed herself to be a good judge of character.

"There's nothing to worry about," she murmured to herself.

.-.

Shoukaku's pager rang after the end of the ceremony. "Office, 5 minutes." it read. More things to do at the end of the day? She sighed, but there was no helping it if he wanted to see her. Shoukaku waved goodbye to Yuudachi and proceeded to the main offices. The sun was setting and it cast wonderfully warm rays of red-gold light over the building, soothing Shoukaku but not doing anything for the tension in her step. But with all the officers and shipgirls having left the building earlier for the ceremony, there was no one she met along the way - and not even Admiral Seiji, as it turned out. She opened his office door to reveal no familiar presence behind the wooden desk. The smell of whiskey still hung in the air, fainter and mixed with the sterile scent of cleaning agents.

Footsteps in the corridor outside her made her flinch. She turned around just in time to see the knob turn and in walked Seiji, wiping a layer of sweat off his forehead. "Ah, you're here." he said matter-of-factly and strolled to his desk. "I have to give you one last update for tomorrow, it's about the division line-up."

Seiji opened a brown file on his desk and picked up a piece of paper off the top, handing it to Shoukaku. "Transfer orders," he explained, "Battle Group Lazarus is having some of its members swapped. A new group is being made for... For Admiral Teiichi, consisting of two destroyers, three cruisers, two battleships, two carriers, and a few supply ships." Seiji rattled off.

Shoukaku scanned the list slowly. Several names were familiar, several were not. But the last column caught her eye: the two names written next to 'Carriers' were Akagi's and her own.

"You won't be reporting here tomorrow," Seiji said, "Instead, you'll be assigned to Admiral Teiichi, and by then we'll know who's his flagship as well. As for Lazarus... Well, I'll be given a few destroyers to manage." Seiji chuckled nervously and scratched his head. Tell Zuikaku for me, will you? I think I will have to come to depend on her very much in the coming days..."

"I... I see," Shoukaku said finally. "I'll be sure to pass on the news, then."

An awkward silence settled upon the two of them. Seiji shuffled his papers and looked nervously at Shoukaku, who coughed and touched her hair absentmindedly. "So..."

"Shoukaku, I..." Seiji began. "I want to, I mean, I need..." He trailed off into silence. Bowing his head, unwilling to look her in the eyes. Unsure of what to do or react, Shoukaku could only stare at her commander. "Yes?" She said.

"...Um, I need... To wish you well in your assignment." He finished. "Living up to Admiral Teiichi's expectations will not be easy, and after today's speech, well..."

Seiji forced a smile and clapped Shoukaku on her shoulder. "Good luck then! I- I guess you'll need it." And he left, leaving her stunned and incredulous. She didn't know whether to feel angry, happy, or sad - the only thing swirling in her chest with unadulterated bewilderment. What had she been expecting?

"...I guess this is it, then," She murmured aloud to the empty office. "Goodbye."

Naturally, the furniture didn't answer, and neither did it stop her as she took her papers and left the office. But as Shoukaku left the building, there was no mistakening the ache in her belly. She had come, she saw. She expected and was left wanting more.

.-.

As expected, Zuikaku did not take the news well when she returned to the dorm that evening.

"Whaaat!"

Shoukaku winced as Zuikaku's hungover brain finally absorbed the implication of having to work with Admiral Seiji. In their dorm, the sleeping forms of Kaga and Akagi rustled and shifted as Shoukaku made 'hush' motions to her sister ship.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Zuikaku said, shaking her fists in indignation. "You'll be with Akagi and I will be stuck with that bastard shitty admiral? Ugh. If he so much as glances at my backside, I will put his eye out!"

"You don't have to avenge me like that, Zuikaku," Shoukaku said, "I mean, besides that, he's a decent worker. You could throw away his whiskey or something, I think, and he'd never get a chance to do stupid things while drunk."

Zuikaku grinned. "Eh. That's true. So, how do you think things will go with the new Chief of Navy?"

Shoukaku slipped under the covers and yawned. "Admiral Teiichi? Uh, I don't know. He could be nice. It was a very rousing speech earlier. I don't know what to expect, honestly."

"That's what you said when you first graduated too." Zuikaku said. "Think he'll be like Seiji too? Boring and dull except for the one time he doesn't think?"

"Zuikaku!" She admonished, but thought for a moment. "Maybe, I guess. He is supposed to be from a respectable family after all. At least he might treat me well."

"I hope so too. Goodnight, sis." Zuikaku said and pulled the covers over. "Goodnight, Zuikaku." Shoukaku replied.

 **tbc.**

 **It's been a very tough week. Last Wednesday night, my laptop was struck by a virus and forced me to reinstall Windows from scratch. I didn't lose any of my work, but time and energy was what I've lost. I will persevere with these weekly updates though, even if they are a bit short. I regret not being able to write more. Still, thank you for your reviews, follows, and favourites! It's really encouraging to receive these with every update I push.**

 **-Destination**


	4. The Introduction 4

**The Five Stories Of Standard Carrier _Shoukaku_**

 **The Introduction, Part 4**

.-.

 _Notice: This chapter, as well as subsequent ones, contains sexual content._

"To a successful exercise!" Admiral Teiichi said, and held the first cup of sake out.

"A successful exercise!" They cheered. Cups clinked and seven officers officers drank deeply. Shoukaku sipped her own cup, swallowing down the bitter-tasting alcohol as quickly as she could. It was good that Zuikaku was not here, or she would surely be emptying the bar by now. Well, strictly speaking, she wasn't at the bar itself, but on the other side of the ballroom seated with the junior officers.

Six months had passed since Admiral Teiichi had taken over, Shoukaku had been transferred to Battle Group Morpheus, and Zuikaku was left with Admiral Seiji as the flagship of Battle Group Lazarus. In the beginning, they had felt anxious about the shakeup, worried that Admiral Teiichi's style would conflict greatly with the trainings and tactics employed by Lazarus. As it is, Admiral Teiichi wasn't anything they could have expected - not only was he impressed by Admiral Seiji's strategy, he even improved on it. Many nights had been spent with the meticulous records Shoukaku and Zuikaku had written of their strategies - Teiichi wasn't content with knowing what worked, but building upon it, making it stronger and more reliable. Admiral Seiji had improvised a mobile base from a regular ship from which Shoukaku and Zuikaku had stayed close to for resupply, while destroyers and submarine support stayed close to fend off intruding Abyssal forces. The whole group then had advanced as one, concentrating fire on Abyssal frontlines, evading torpedoes and shells, but always taking commands from Seiji's capital ship.

Teiichi was determined to multiply the effectiveness of the strategy by making a lineup thrice as large. For the last few months, Shoukaku had been by his side as Teiichi asked her question after question while he prodded at plastic mockups and scrutinised battle records. Sortie after sortie had been carried out to test each of the three sub-groups' effectiveness, with Akagi and Shoukaku sometimes playing the roles of hostile Abyssal carriers happening to come too close to the destroyers' effective range. And finally, this week Admiral Teiichi had taken a huge gamble - with an accompanying payout of an appropriate size. If people thought it was amazing that Admiral Seiji had routed an Abyssal group without casualties, Admiral Teiichi had topped the charts - Battle Group Morpheus had _succeeded_ in breaking the Abyssal blockade! Granted, they had attracted the attention of reinforcements and had to make a tactical withdrawal, but the beaming smiles of tired shipgirls was well worth it. Admiral Teiich had made a successful expedition against the Abyssals with no major damage to the group, and the party this evening was to celebrate the success!

"Admiral, you are a force of nature, aren't you?" Miyamoto laid the compliments on thick and heavy. "In six months, you've broken the blockade. What will you do in a year? Dare I hope that the Admiral will even bring about victory against the enemy?"

Teiichi slapped his cup down on the table and chuckled. "Who knows? When the Abyssal fleet first rose, it was the then-Chief of Navy, my uncle, who told us all to endure it. Perhaps he knew that one day, we would be able to beat them back!"

Heads nodded in agreement. "Ah, but nothing would not have been possible without the shipgirls, Admiral," Satoshi chimed in. "Remember when they first came to us in dire times, dark times, and showed that the Abyssals could be sunk? That we would no longer need to worry about our ships and cities being attacked by an enemy we can't understand? For the shipgirls, you came to us like the Goddess of Creation at the beginning of time."

Looking directly at Shoukaku, Satoshi raised a glass. "To your hard work, a toast is in order, I say!"

"..." An awkward pause followed, only broken by Admiral Teiichi raising his glass in answer. "Aye," he said, and the action spurred the rest of the officers to follow. "Aye! To the shipgirls!" They said and drank, but as Shoukaku tipped her own cup, she could feel the tension that had settled into place like an unwelcome guest.

"I hope you weren't suggesting that the Admiral's work is less important that the forces he commands, were you?" one of the other officers said in a light tone, yet his expression suggested annoyance. "No matter how strong the shipgirls are, you can't say that naval strategy is a big part of the reason we win our battles!"

"Of course not," Satoshi said, looking uncomfortable. "I'm merely reminding everyone that the shipgirls are what make our resistance possible."

"Everyone, we can discuss this later," Teiichi smiled reassuringly as he glanced at everyone. "For now, let's eat! The food prepared by the hotel must surely be delicious!"

Satoshi and the other officer immediately broke eye contact to nod and agree with Admiral Teiichi. And just like that, the pretense went back up - that everything was fine. Shoukaku herself began to eat as well, but the delicacies could not quite sooth the butterflies that had taken up residence.

As far as Admiral Satoshi had said, he was correct - the only military force capable of fighting back against the Abyssal fleet in any economical efficiency were the shipgirls. Conventional human weapons technically damaged them, but the Abyssal fleet boasted an amazing capacity to regenerate from their human-like injuries - injuries, that if made by a shipgirl, would outright put the enemy out of commission until they were sighted several days later again.

But why then did the human officers not respect them so? Again and again, Shoukaku had wondered, but an answer remained elusive. Shipgirls very rarely had time to ponder deep, philosophical questions like the meaning of their existence anyway - not when there were navies around the world in desperate need of their help every single day. With their global blockade, unreliable landlines, and little more than a primitive understanding of Abyssal defenses and shipgirl weaponry, the day a shipgirl appeared was more often than not immediately followed by their conscription. That they were human in appearance did not seem to matter insofar their rights were concerned - Shoukaku knew they were literally military property, with their own names and classifications. They had identity cards, but they were only valid in military installations. Much as Shoukaku enjoyed other aspects of human life - eating their food, enjoying their hobbies, and spending their money - she keenly shared the sentiment that most, if not all shipgirls shared: that they were not superior to the humans, despite fighting for them and looking like them.

She looked around at the other shipgirls eating. Fubuki, Isokaze, and Shimakaze (in a modest-looking kimono dress, for once) were here at the invitation of the admirals to which they were their secretaries. Shoukaku herself, while not the official secretary - that dubious honour fell to Akagi, who had opted for bed rest and resupply - was more or less Admiral Teiichi's right-hand-man, and when she heard that phrase and looked up its meaning, she understood that she had to go. Picking her best dress from her wardrobe, a soft pink kimono with a few accessories borrowed from Zuikaku, she tried her best to appear knowledgeable and receptive to the officers and their mundane alchohol contests.

And for Zuikaku? She was on the far side of the ballroom near the buffet line - surrounded by a bunch of destroyers and working with Tenryuu to keep them entertained while the junior officers laughed loudly and joked among themselves. Looking resplendent in a pale green dress that complemented her hair, which she had tied back into a bun. Admiral Seiji was seated at an adjacent, sipping a glass of water while he smiled and nodded his head at something someone was saying.

She couldn't be sure from where she was seated, but somehow Shoukaku felt that Admiral Seiji wasn't entirely enjoying himself. Since when did officers drink water at celebrations like these?

"Drink up, drink up!" Miyamoto slapped two officers on their backs while he grinned. "No need to worry about getting back tonight; we have a volunteer for designated driver!"

"Designated... Driver?" Shoukaku wondered aloud. Teiichi chewed and swallowed before nodding to Shoukaku, and said: "At times like these, someone needs to drive everyone back to the bunks, correct? So he can't drink alcohol. It's probably a little unfair to him, but it's for the good of everyone."

Nearby, a very bored Fubuki was listening in on the conversation, and decided to join in. "But Admiral, why not ask one of us to drive? There are a few shipgirls that definitely know how to operate a car, and if getting back is the priority, then following traffic rules and regulations shouldn't be that big an issue..." She trailed off.

Teiichi sniggered. "Uh-uh, you know that can't be done, Fubuki," He said, causing her to pout in annoyance. "There's a very good reason anyway and it can be explained in one word. Or a name, actually."

"Who is it?" Fubuki asked. On the other side, Shoukaku immediately remembered, and visibly cringed at the recollection.

"Kongou." Teiichi theatrically whispered. "She's the entire reason cars are no longer allowed in Port premises. She totaled the car when driving on that little straight road from dorms to Port! Have you seen that little stump of the tree at the first turn?"

Leaving Fubuki to listen to stories from Teiichi, Shoukaku excused herself and headed over to Zuikaku's table on the pretense of getting drinks. "Hey sister," she said as she neared her, "How does it feel to be the _de facto_ destroyer mama?"

"You shut your mouth!" Zuikaku retorted teasingly. "I'm doing you a favour so that you can sit there and eat in peace!"

"Yeah, right," Yuudachi giggled, "Did you know Zuikaku has been like, staring at Admiral Seiji all day? It's so obvious she likes him!"

Zuikaku glared at the errant destroyer. "I do not!" she growled, but the effect was lost as she began to blush. "I'm merely doing my duty as his secretary ship to make sure he doesn't touch a drop of drink!"

"Shoukaku, isn't it like, really obvious?" Yuudachi danced out of reach of Zuikaku, sticking her tongue out and taunting the bigger shipgirl. "Yuudachi thinks Zuikaku should like, just get up and confess already! Nah- you- can't- catch- me!" She darted behind Shoukaku and past the buffet line as an angry Zuikaku got up and started chasing her.

" _You don't need to be worried, Zuikaku,_ " Shoukaku chuckled and smiled to herself at the sight of her sister. " _I'll be alright._ "

.-.

She had drunk too much, and she could feel it. Her face felt too warm and the ground felt like it was spinning. Shoukaku had taken to leaning on Admiral Teiichi for support, and even he was probably too far gone to stand straight anyway. Her head was beginning to ache; where could she find water? Zuikaku had been gone a long time, ever since she had went to help Seiji carry drunken officers and shipgirls to the cars.

"Admiral Teiichi... Your turn!" Miyamoto mumbled, slurring his words. "Truth or... Dare?"

Teiichi refilled his cup with a shaking hand, spilling more than he had the last time. No one seemed to notice. "I'll go for... I'll take 'Truth' this time. Come at me!" he cried with liquid courage.

Miyamoto gazed at Shoukaku, and he grinned. "Your secretary ship. What's your honest opinion of her?"

"You know... Shoukaku's not my secretary ship," Teiichi said. Miyamoto waved his hand dismissively. "Same, same. Isn't she a beauty? Admiral, you're a lucky man."

"Well..." Teiichi turned to look at Shoukaku, her head perched on his shoulder. "She is good. Very hard worker. Valuable shipgirl of Morpheus. I don't know what I would do... What I would do without her treasured advice?"

Already ruddy in the face from drink, Shoukaku blushed harder and coughed. "Admiral... You embarrass me. Your hard work is what makes it all possible."

Teiichi chuckled and lifted his hand to squeeze her shoulder. "Don't... Be embarrassed..."

But when his hand slipped off her shoulder and landed squarely on her breast, Shoukaku couldn't help but gasp. "Admiral!" she admonished, "You're touching me!"

"Ahh, sorry." Teiichi took his hand off. "I hope you didn't mind..."

"Hey, Shoukaku," An officer Shoukaku didn't know the name of spoke up. "You're really beautiful. Have you ever... **Done** **it**?"

"Have I ever what?" Shoukaku said. "I'm sorry, I don't follow."

"Surely you've heard about it." Miyamoto said, smelling blood in the water. "Maybe when some shipgirls take some holidays, some leave of absences..." Shoukaku shook her head. "I'm sorry, I've never really had time to ask my friends about those. Admiral Teiichi keeps us working on long and hard things all the time."

Every officer stared at Shoukaku before bursting out in laughter. "Oh my, oh my! Shoukaku, you dirty girl!" Miyamoto choked. "Quite the double entrende, but you didn't realise it... Admiral! You have yourself a maiden!"

"M-Maiden?" Flustered, Shoukaku turned to Admiral Teiichi for clarification. "Admiral, what are they referring to?"

"You lot are a thirsty bunch of boys," Teiichi slapped the table and laughed. "Shoukaku... A maiden... Perhaps you are indeed. A maiden is a woman who has never had.. Has never had sex."

Shoukaku's eyes widened. "Oh," she said, " _Oh._ "

"Do I smell a rendezvous?" Someone chimed in from the sides. Miyamoto wiped his glasses and stared at Shoukaku, evidently waiting for her to say or do something.

"W-Well, uh, this is confusing," Shoukaku laughed nervously, "I don't know anything about it, so..."

" _So that's why I didn't understand what it means to be a maiden,_ " she was going to say, but then Miyamoto interrupted her. "So you should try to find out, is that what you're saying?" he said. "Why not? After all, you know how hard Admiral Teiichi works. Why not take your mind off work for awhile, and have some... fun?"

"Wait, wait," Shoukaku began to protest, but the officers began to cheer them on in a perverse cheer. "Go for it, Admiral Teiichi!" One of them urged.

"Hang on, you guys," Teiichi raised his hands, "We should think this through at least, really. At least give us some time..."

"Yeah, we shouldn't do this in the ballroom, should we?" Miyamoto said loudly. "This is a hotel! I think we should be able to book rooms for ourselves, right?" The drunk officers murmured in assent. "Oi, Honda Seiji!"

Shoukaku's heart skipped a beat. Had he been there all this time? She turned to look in the direction Miyamoto was pointing at, and saw him seated at a table, looking tired but still drinking some water to pass the time. "Get us a big room upstairs, will ya?" the older man bellowed across the ballroom.

There was no way he hadn't been listening in. Cherry-red in embarrassment, Shoukaku turned away, and tried to block out the sounds of conversation. Mistaking her actions, Admiral Teiichi put an arm around Shoukaku's shoulders and lifted her on her feet. "Can you stand?" he said.

"Admiral, I'm not sure about this," she weakly protested, but Teiichi simply held her a little tighter. "It'll be fine, I think. Relax!" he said. "You're probably... You're too drunk to go home tonight, anyway..."

Things moved. The gaggle of men and several shipgirls were upstairs, laughing, giggling, and drunk-walking into a large, lavish suite before Shoukaku could grasp what was happening. She found herself laid down on a large, comfy bed, smelling of flowers, just as a barely-conscious Shimakaze flopped down next to her.

"You guys... You make me nervous about this..." She could hear Teiichi speaking, but he sounded distant. The bed felt warm and inviting, as if she could go to sleep anytime she wished.

"Alright, alright." Suddenly, she heard him right besides her ear. "Shoukaku? Do you mind?"

" _So this is the last moment I am no longer a maiden,_ " She thought. Teiichi's warm breath tickled her ear. He was lying on her, stroking her hair. The ache in her head was overwhelming; she just wanted to go to sleep...

"It's fine, Admiral," she mumbled, "Please... I am in your care."

A high-five was heard from somewhere in the room. Someone - Teiichi, perhaps - untied her kimono, and Shoukaku felt the cold air on her exposed front. Uncomfortable, she squirmed and turned to her side, but that allowed him to tug her panties off.

"Take her, Admiral!" she heard someone urge. And then Shoukaku felt Teiichi enter her.

It was painful at first. Nothing could hide that, no matter how gently she was held, or the warmth of his body on hers, the thrusts were rough, blunt, and scraped her raw. Holding onto the man taking her, it was all Shoukaku could do to not shriek in pain. It would not be nice to do that in front of all the officers. Elsewhere, Shimakaze was moaning, whether from pain or from pleasure, she couldn't tell. Several times, Teiichi nuzzled her neck, trying to kiss her, but something held Shoukaku back every time, and she turned away.

"It feels... It's amazing!" she heard Teiichi moan, "It feels good!"

But for Shoukaku, the only thing she felt was the pain. Slowly, slowly, it faded away, replaced by the dull in-out movements of Teiichi's penis in her. "It... It doesn't, hurt," she mumbled, and several whistles could be heard.

Before long, Teiichi grunted, and held Shoukaku close. She felt him tremble slightly - he shuddered once, twice, and then it was over. She felt her hair being stroked tenderly, before he abruptly left and the warmth of Teiichi was replaced by the sticky sensation of cold sweat.

Feeling slightly more sober, she sat up to look around. Uniforms were tossed about, together with the clothes of several shipgirls. Three men were clustered around Shimakaze, making Shoukaku blush heavily as she saw them moving in... In ways she had no words to describe. Admiral Teiichi was not there, and in another room, she could hear a shipgirl's muffled cries and moans, with the occasional lewd remark spoken by a man.

 _Slap!_ Someone smacked her bare backside from behind. "That is a lovely ass on you, I must say," Miyamoto said, still slurring his words. "Hey. Where did Admiral Teiichi go to?"

Flushed and indignant, but still feeling like her head was spinning, Shoukaku was only able to shrug. "I don't... I don't know," she mumbled. Miyamoto raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I see. Well then, let's try something else. I'll give you a taste of something different - sit on the bed and open your mouth." When Shoukaku didn't move at first, he pushed her down forcefully, and climbed onto the untidy covers, straddling her and bringing his... His organ close to her face. "Use your mouth," he commanded, "And do not do anything else." Despite the repulsive, bodily odour emanating from it, Shoukaku saw little alternative, and obeyed his instructions without complaint. Glass broke from somewhere outside as Miyamoto took hold of her head and made Shoukaku perform fellatio on him.

As the night wore on, Admiral Seiji, biting his lip and holding back tears, clenched his bleeding hand and closed the door silently. Crushing the shards of the glass he was drinking from underfoot, he hurriedly searched for a bathroom to clean up the blood from his hand.

 **tbc.**

 **I'm sorry for the delays in posting. From this week onwards, I will do my best to maintain chapter lengths of around 3k words like today.**

 ** _The Introduction_ will conclude with one more chapter next week.**

 **-Destination**


	5. The Introduction 5

**The Five Stories Of Standard Carrier _Shoukaku_**

 **The Introduction: Part 5 (Final)**

.-.

Of all the human foods Shoukaku had ever sampled, none stood out more than the nattou bean. The strange, slimy texture of the beans remained in her mouth long after the beans themselves were swallowed, and at the end of the day she had to agree with Zuikaku and an incredulous Akagi that nattou beans were an acquired taste.

When salty, bitter, and sticky semen was ejaculated into her mouth for the sixth or seventh time tonight, Shoukaku was swearing to herself she would never touch the beans again. Coughing, but keeping her lips closed, she fought the urge to projectile-vomit and reluctantly swallowed the still-warm essence of Miyamoto, getting a nod of approval from him. The first time he had made her fellate him, she had spat out his load, earning a rebuke from him and a 're-education.' Simply put, Miyamoto had jammed his penis back into her mouth and held her down until she finally swallowed the disgusting emission.

With a satisfied groan, the naked man extracted himself from Shoukaku's mouth and waddled off to take a seat next to where Teiichi was slouching half-dressed. The alcohol had long since worn off, but as Shoukaku flopped back onto the messy sheets, a glance at the clock told her why she felt so tired - it was approximately three in the morning. She really wanted a nice, hot bath, but the hot water might be out. At least she wanted a drink of water. Preferably cold. Even if it made her teeth ache, she just wanted to rid herself of the sticky sensation in her throat that never seemed to go away.

"That is a fine mouth-pussy on her, I must admit." Lounging in a chair and smoking, Miyamoto grinned and offered Admiral Teiichi a cigarette. "A smoke, sir?"

"There's no need to call me 'sir' after hours, Miyamoto," Teiichi groaned, "And this headache is killing me. Thanks, but no thanks." The other man merely chuckled and slapped him on the back. "Aren't young men like you supposed to have more energy? How many times did you go at it? Interesting that you didn't go for round two again," he gestured at Shoukaku.

"Well, you guys were pulling me towards the other girls too..." Teiichi said. "Really, it was probably more like you guys got a kick out of me knocking up everyone else. Speaking of which," he glanced at Shoukaku's prone form, "Is she okay? She looks out of it."

Miyamoto laughed heartily. "Ah, don't worry about that, sir. Everyone here knows the Bro Code, y'know? We kept our hands off her. Mostly."

"Bro.. Code?" Teiichi asked. Miyamoto said nothing in reply, but merely winked at him and took another puff. When neither of them had spoken for awhile, Shoukaku quietly lifted up her head and looked around.

The suite was quiet. From the mess of clothing around, she recognised Fubuki's orange kimono. Mercifully, the only other bedroom in the suite, where she should have ended up in, was silent. Shimakaze, on the other hand, didn't have it as lucky as her. Semen was visibly dripping out of her vagina, and yet more of the substance was on her face and hair. The poor girl had no reaction to her state, instead blankly staring up at the ceiling. Even as Shoukaku watched in morbid fascination, the trail from her sex continued to ooze and congeal on the carpeted floor.

"I'm going out," Miyamoto announced to nobody in particular, "Have a good night, Admiral." He snatched a random cap off the floor as he strode out, and seconds later the door slammed shut. For his part, Teiichi seemed to have passed out on the thick armchair, his bare chest rising and falling steadily.

In the early hours of the morning, surrounded by sleeping men, knocked-out shipgirls, and breathing the scents of sweat, sex, and smoke, it was a surreal moment for Shoukaku. Only the ache in her nether region reminded her that she wasn't just at an orgy, she had been in it. Would anyone see her if she left early to go home? Her heartbeat quickened.

"My clothes, where are my clothes?" she whispered to herself. After a moment's search, she found them wrapped up in the discarded blanket, a little wrinkled but mercifully clean of male stink. A cursory sniff assured her it was unspoiled. Putting it on the best she could, she couldn't find her shoes in the mess, but a cupboard had thin, canvas slippers inside. Those would have to do. She took them out and closed the cupboard door-

 _Knock knock._

Her heart leapt into her mouth. Wasn't Miyamoto gone for the night? Had he forgotten to take something? Shoukaku frantically looked around, searching for a place to hide, when the knob turned and the door opened to reveal Seiji.

"…"

"…Are you okay?" Seiji spoke first.

Shoukaku stared at him with an incredulous expression. Coughing into his hand, Seiji continued: "It's getting really late, so I thought I'd come in and see if things were okay. And, uh… Well, I mean I wanted to see if you were okay, I guess?"

If she was okay? Shoukaku had just been violated by more men than she probably had guns! When she didn't reply, Seiji's gaze dropped to her dress, and he said:

"You look… Well, you're beautiful tonight, but frankly, you look like shit."

Shoukaku burst into giggles. The frank remark, Seiji's deadpan expression, and the tumultuous events of this night were too much for her to handle, and if only to relieve her stress. "Admiral, please," she said, "That's all you came to say?"

Seiji tried to smile, but it looked strange and his expression didn't match his eyes. As Shoukaku leaned closer to him, he held up a hand - not in invitation, but in warning. Palm facing her, Seiji turned away to hide his expression with his other hand. Shoukaku saw it was bandaged, and crudely so.

"Shoukaku…" he said in a low voice. "I'm… I came to say…"

"What is it?" she stepped closer to hear him.

"…I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

His tone changed dramatically and quietened to a whisper. Brushing his hand aside, Shoukaku reached out to touch his shoulder. "Seiji, I don't know what you're thinking, but tonight is nothing you could have done anything about…"

"That's not it," he said, "That's not it at all. I saw you earlier, and… I saw you, and I realised…"

Seiji took hold of Shoukaku's hands, and got on his knees, both of them. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry," he cried, "Even though what I did that day is nothing compared to this, I… What I did is wrong, and I never apologised. I'm sorry, Shoukaku!"

"Admiral, stand up!" Shoukaku said, "You don't need to do this! I should be apologising, really, I drank too much tonight and-"

"Alcohol is not the reason," Seiji retorted, "And don't call me 'Admiral' right now. They all wanted to fuck you from the start, and I did nothing to stop it. I'm sorry I didn't do anything."

Shoukaku tugged at his hands, pulling him to his feet. "Admir- Seiji, I'm telling you, this is not necessary!"

"Maybe you're right, Shoukaku," Seiji said, "But I know what's necessary: I have to apologise for my wrongdoing. So Shoukaku, do you accept my apology?"

Something about the seriousness of his request made Shoukaku want to roll her eyes and laugh at the same time. She did neither - instead, she turned Seiji's hands over, releasing her arms from his grasp, and pulled him into a gentle hug. "That's the Admiral I know better," she murmured. "You are forgiven."

Seiji breathed a sigh of relief. "I just hope I wasn't too late," he said, "But it looks like a good time to ask: shall I take you home, Miss Shoukaku? Shoukaku?"

She wasn't letting go of him. Seiji coughed pointedly and tapped her on the back. "You were never this clingy before. What gives?"

"Let me hold you," She said earnestly, "You smell better than the… Them."

Seiji was going to comment on that, but held his tongue and instead embraced Shoukaku. Despite the lingering smoke and sweat on her, she still smelled familiar and soft, in ways that Seiji couldn't describe properly and didn't want to. Despite how many men must have had their way with her, Shoukaku still smelled like herself-

"Ah!"

And then they stumbled. The late hour of the night, plus the fatigue of driving back and forth between the hotel and the dorms, was too much for Seiji to bear. The couple lost their balance, and fell heavily onto the floor with a loud ' _Thump!_ '

"Seiji! Are you okay?" Shoukaku rubbed her forehead where she had bumped it, and looked at Seiji. Massaging the back of his head with his free hand, he groaned heavily and brushed her hands aside. "I'll be fine, it's just…"

"What happened to your hand?" Shoukaku examined the crude, bloodstained bandage he had wrapped around it. "I cut it by accident," he lied, but tellingly he looked away when she glared at him.

"Okay, okay!" he confessed. "I broke my glass of water earlier. I cleaned it up already, but…"

Shoukaku shook her head. "I thought I heard something break earlier. Were you watching us?" The slow flush in Seiji's cheeks as good as admitted his guilt. "That's no good, Seiji," she mused, "Coming up would only have hurt you." Untying the hairband she wore, she fashioned a dressing around the cut, which while small, was quite deep and evidently was still bleeding inside. "That's better," she appraised her work, "At least I remember something-"

"Shoukaku," Seiji gasped, "You're… You're so beautiful."

It was not just the fact that Shoukaku was still sitting on him that was making him breathless. Never could he recall Shoukaku with her hair down like this. It gleamed pure white in the dim lighting of the room, and momentarily Seiji could have believed that she was an angel given human form.

Noticing his awed expression, Shoukaku blushed, but held her gaze steady. From below her, a strangely familiar sensation could be felt. Her stomach twisted once she realised what it was - Seiji was becoming hard from her position atop him.

He caught onto it at the same time. "Ah- I'm sorry! I just… Gah, I can't help it," he said.

"Seiji, I…" Shoukaku trailed off. Her heartbeat fluttered, the butterflies were back. A daring idea had taken hold of her head, and even as she tried to think about the possible negative outcomes, she was already excited just thinking about it.

Would it still hurt if she did it with someone she knew much better than some random human officer? "Seiji… Would you, um…" She looked away shyly, "Would you like to try… Try having sex with me?"

"Oh." Seiji blinked wide-eyed as if unsure of what he had heard. Did she just kill the mood? "It's okay if you don't want to!" she quickly said, "I just was wondering if… I was wondering if…"

"If? Shoukaku, in all honesty, I think…" Seiji paused to gather his thoughts. "I think there isn't a man who would refuse you if you asked."

"Is that so?" Shoukaku smiled coyly. Sitting up so that he could see her better, Seiji leaned in closer to Shoukaku. Her breathing was warm and heavy on his face. He knew somehow that there would be only one way this could end. A distant corner of his mind screamed warnings, but he threw caution to the wind. Seiji might never get another invitation like this.

"What are you going to do, Seiji?" Shoukaku whispered. Her face was flushed, her scent so strong and intense, it was driving him crazy. He was crazy - crazy for her.

"I will take care of you." He said, and closed the gap between their lips. Startled, Shoukaku grabbed his shoulders, but she quickly relaxed into the kiss. Moments later, their tongues were duelling in a win-win battle, neither side willing to give in first for air.

"Oh!"

Shoukaku gasped first. Taking it as his cue, Seiji lowered Shoukaku to the floor - gratefully, it was a dry patch of carpet. Still kissing, he struggled to remove his belt and pants one-handed, until her slim hands made short work of the buckle and let him slip out, taking his underwear along with it. One by one, clothes were undone until Shoukaku and Seiji were bareback, and he was ready to penetrate her. "Shoukaku, shall I?" he said.

To which, she responded by crossing her legs and locking them behind him. "Don't keep me waiting- ah!"

" _It's so much different!_ " Shoukaku thought, " _Why does it feel… Wholesome?_ "

Maybe it was Seiji's lips on hers. Perhaps it was his hands behind her head, lifting her up comfortably. Possibly even Shoukaku herself could be making a difference, because whenever Seiji thrust in, it hardly felt like he was scraping her out, but being guided smoothly in. And with every thrust came a little fizzle of… Of pleasant feelings, enough to make Shoukaku tighten her hold onto him, barely holding back rhythmic moans.

"Shoukaku, I- I need to tell the truth," Seiji panted between thrusts, "Maybe it's not the best time, but- But I'm sure of it!"

"What?" She said. On the edge of delirium, she had to hold onto his shoulders to steady herself from the back-and-forth motion.

"I love you!" he said, "I don't know why I keep caring, but if I had to guess- it's because I love you!"

"Is this really the best time to say that- Ah!" Somewhere where the penis went, Seiji was hitting something - and it felt so good. "Shoukaku? I'm serious-" Seiji began, but she was not listening. She grabbed Seiji by the waist and forced him down, deeper into her and touching the same spot. Stars sparkled at the edge of her vision.

"Keep going!" she urged, "More! More! Seiji, I-"

" _I want you,_ " she tried to say, but the words were stuck in her mouth. Another thrust silenced her, and a wave of pleasure, stronger and more intense than any of them, rippled through her body and arched her back. All she knew was that she did not want it to end-

And it was over. Collapsing onto the floor, gasping for breath, Shoukaku lay there while Seiji held her and began to tremble and pant. She felt him buck his hips as he ejaculated, and for once she didn't find the thought repulsive. Holding her tightly, Seiji trembled as he came inside, until his own orgasm finished and he gently let her down.

Neither of them said anything for a minute or so, until Seiji lifted his head off the floor to gaze at Shoukaku. "I guess… That felt good for you?"

"Yeah, it did." She said. "It felt way better than… Than anything I've ever felt today."

After a pause, she nudged Seiji to get his attention. "Did you mean it? What you said earlier."

Flustered, Seiji scratched his head nervously. "Well, it was kind of in the heat of the moment, but…" He looked at Shoukaku bashfully. "Let's just say I have no regrets saying that. Which, uh, is basically saying… I love you, Shoukaku."

How could her heart not race after hearing those words? Drawing him into a hug, Shoukaku positively beamed with happiness, and whispered into his ear, "Thank you."

The glorious moment was ruined when Seiji's member, sandwiched between them, began to grow hard again. "Oh my…" Shoukaku gasped in mock surprise, "Still not enough?"

"I'm sorry, Shoukaku…"

"No need for that. How many hours til sunrise?" She asked. "Will you take me home for a shower after this, hmm?" she pouted and squeezed his shoulders. "Won't you listen to me, Mister Designated Driver?"

"Anything for you, Miss Shoukaku," Seiji chuckled.

Tucking her hair behind her ears, Shoukaku leaned up to peck him on the cheek. "Then, I'm in your care, Seiji." she said. Like a perverse starting signal, Seiji lifted her hips up and entered her again, earning a soft cry from the beautiful woman in his arms.

A soft cry that did not go unnoticed.

In the hallway, Zuikaku stood alone, shaking whether from rage, indignation, or confusion, she didn't know. "How dare he… How dare he do this to her!" She gnashed her teeth, her ears scarlet with suppressed rage.

From the sounds coming from the open doorway of the suite, they were having sex again. With the car keys still with her, Zuikaku walked away. There would be retribution for this. Admiral Seiji was not going to have his cake and eat it, not without some punishment for hurting her dear sister!

 **End Of The Introduction**

.-.

 **Hi everyone. If you've been following the story up to this point, congratulations! I'm very grateful that you've kept reading on all this time.**

 **I will be taking a few days' break before resuming writing. At the time of this chapter release, I do not plan to make any changes to the weekly Wednesday posting - it's been a very good way to motivate myself to keep writing.**

 **I sincerely hope you enjoy the story. Feel free to leave a review, and I'll be back soon!**

 **-Destination**

 **Next Story: The Escalation**


	6. Side Story: The Battle Of Boxing Day

**The Side Stories Of Standard Carrier _Shoukaku_**

 **The Battle Of Boxing Day**

.-.

"Abyssal ship sighted! It's a Re-class battleship!" Yukikaze called over comms. "Extreme range, heading 0-9-0! Orders, Admiral?"

Checking the multitude of charts and sketched courses, Admiral Seiji grabbed the comms and dialed the group's frequency. "Lazarus, the enemy has been sighted. It is still on course, and assuming we are out of detection range, it will circle the uninhabited island SO-4, and reach the far side about twenty minutes at half-speed. Go to battle stations, I repeat, go to battle stations."

Six shipgirls received and acknowledged the orders. After a full week of scouting and doing nothing, the destroyers had become impatient. Metal on metal rasped as Kagerō loaded her torpedo tubes and Shiranui donned her signature white gloves. Sitting up straight in their seats, Zuikaku and Shoukaku exchanged glances as they checked their longbows and coaxed their planes to make ready.

The group of four destroyers and two carriers sailed in a loose formation - Yukikaze in front and Amtsukaze at the rear, with Kagerō and Shiranui escorting Shoukaku and Zuikaku in the centre of formation. Normally, the two carriers would be sailing on their own, but today they were both on deck of a small, steel-grey ship, just a few metres longer than a recreational boat. If not for the battle-scarred armour plating at its waterline and cabin, or the scratched paint to which there were insufficient funds to repair, the "ship" could have been called a pleasure craft.

Although Battle Group Lazarus was no stranger to running escort, today they were assigned a new mission: search and destroy. The seas this side of Okinawa were mostly calm and far removed from the blockade, but brass had specifically ordered them here to get rid of the thorny Abyssal battleship here that was regularly disrupting a shipping route. Intelligence reports referred to it very simply as the "Re-class battleship," but as Seiji double-checked his numbers and fidgeted with his pen, the red dot representing the enemy's last known position had a single character written down next to it: "Rei."

Seiji could already hear the droning propaganda in his ears: "Name the enemy, a traitor you name yourself," and so on, but if the last few weeks of studies had taught him, their enemy was one that commanded her own respect. Patrol boats had been outright sunk and several shipments rerouted just to give this one little battleship a wide berth. Past experience with Re-class battleships had shown that they were more than capable of severely damaging, even sinking shipgirls sent to stop her.

It was only natural that if they were going to give this being the right of way, then she had earned her name no matter how strong their grudges againt her might be. Of course, if they could sink her today, then there would be no need to deal with this naming business.

"Akashi, mines check."

Mines were not part of the standard complement the Kagerō-class destroyers were outfitted with, but not their carrier ship, the blandly named Unit One. It was the reason Battle Group Lazarus could operate at sea for weeks and be resupplied, rearmed, and rest at night - and at the centre of it all was Repair Ship Akashi, juggling the impossible tasks of repairing, resupplying, and fighting alongside six shipgirls at sea. Though she might move about freely on Unit One, she was always ready to go - and she had for the last three nights laid a network of sea mines under the cover of darkness. Akashi was pulling lots of extra work, and the darkening circles under her eyes served to underline the fact.

"Mines are good to go, Admiral!" she said.

"Yukikaze reports that Rei is continuing on her course!" the comms crackled. "I can feel the kiss of the Goddess of Fortune!"

"Steady, Yukikaze, steady," Seiji said. "Shoukaku. Would you please launch a reconnaissance fairy?"

"Understood, Admiral!" Drawing an arrow and notching it, Shoukaku gracefully launched a sky-blue plane at a low angle. Within seconds, Seiji watched a screen as information from the recon fairy streamed back to Unit One, decrypted swiftly, and resolved itself into meaningful data and numbers.

Everything indicated that Rei was completely unaware of their presence. Out of detection range, out of weapons range, and certainly no other Abyssal ships had been sighted, or Kagerō and Shiranui would have alerted him. Even as Seiji stared at the blinking green dot that indicated Rei's heading and speed, he could not shake off the feelings of unease.

"Orders, Admiral?" Zuikaku asked. Seiji glanced at the sister shipgirls on deck, at Akashi ordering one of the engineers to replace a radio set, and back at the comms set, where four other shipgirls were ready and waiting to be unleashed upon their enemy. But his gut feelings said otherwise...

Their enemy was in the perfect position to spring their trap. Their morale was still high. All preparations had been done. Seiji had to weigh their chances of success against never getting an opportunity this good. In the end, his choice was...

He picked up the comms set and clicked the button. "Battle Group Lazarus," he said slowly and deliberately, "Commence the attack. I repeat, commence the attack. All ships three-quarters speed bearing 0-4-5, towards the near side of uninhabited island SO-4. As soon as the enemy ship is out of visual range, arm the mines, Akashi."

"Yes sir!" Seven shipgirls answered together as one.

The five ships in formation accelerated, each shipgirl keeping a low profile in the water by bending their knees. The weight of seventy-two torpedoes, two squadrons of bombers and fighters, and food and fuel for seven shipgirls made Unit One sit low in the water as well, but her profile risked detection by Abyssal submarine forces. They had to do this quickly and get out, because the longer they stayed, the greater a target Unit One made herself - and as far as their antisubmarine measures went, they had more luck throwing rocks into the water. Seiji did not want to look for fights he was not prepared for.

Bit by bit, the distinctive profile of the Re-class battleship disappeared past the treeline of island SO-4. "Lazarus, take positions and hold steady. Currents are coming from behind us, so keep your engines on and don't run aground. Akashi, prime mine launchers One through Six and give me control."

"Priming," Akashi muttered as she punched a series of buttons on console she had built. "Admiral has control." A red knob lit up in front of Seiji.

"And now, we wait." According to his observations, Rei would take another 2 more minutes before she rounded the island and would be heading straight into the field.

The hot sun beat down on the group, and everyone was sweating soon enough, but with the enemy nearby, not even the loud-mouthed Amatsukaze made a complaint. There was too much risk that they might be overheard, or their comms could be intercepted. Two minutes quickly elapsed, but the Abyssal battleship still did not appear.

Seiji chewed on his lip and struggled to contain the tremor in his hand. The roles did not feel like they had completely reversed - what if they _had_ been detected, if the Re-class battleship was presently laying her own trap? Could he live with the decisions he made today with the lives of seven shipgirls and five crew members in his hands?

The comms crackled to life, making Seiji flinch. "Yukikaze reports! The enemy has been sighted!" she whispered. "About damn time," Seiji said. "Zuikaku! Launch your bomber squadron!"

Already notching an arrow and drawing her Japanese bow, Zuikaku struck an imposing figure as she launched the first of seven torpedo bombers. "Squadron launched!" she reported.

"All ships, three-quarters speed, bearing 1-3-5! Load torpedoes and AP rounds. Force her into the minefield! Adopt Arrowhead formation!" Seiji ordered.

Unit One lagged behind as the four destroyers accelerated into a wide 'V' shape, creating waves that crashed against the hull of Seiji's dimunitive ship. In the distance, the blob that was their quarry began to grow larger. The muted _pop pop pop_ sounds of anti-aircraft fire was plain to everyone on deck.

"Admiral, is it my turn yet? The enemy is within torpedo range!" Kagerou asked. Seiji hesitated. At mid- to extreme range, the Rei-class battleship would certainly catch a few torpedoes - but his greater concern was whether it would drive the ship to a course heading out of the field. The arrangement of the mines was not random, but concentrated a little more in the center, where he was hoping that it would cross in approximately thirty seconds. "Negative, Kagerou, Shiranui," he said, "Hold your fire."

Seiji flipped up the clear plastic cover and the red knob blinked once. He eyed the readout from Shoukaku's recon fairy - though the enemy battleship had changed her course by 3 degrees, it was still about to pass into the eye of the unborn storm; the dot blinked once, twice, thrice... And it was in position. "Here we go," he muttered coolly, and twisted the knob. It made a satisfying 'click' as it turned from red to green, and-

 **BOOM!** The core cluster of mines detonated, vaporising tonnes of water beneath the hapless enemy ship, and turned calm waters into a frothy, churning, furious maelstrom mixed with still-hot gasses. The Abyssal ship briefly disappeared below from radar, physics dictating that it sink in the low-density waters. Then four torpedoes dropped by Zuikaku's squadron, armed with proximity fuses, found their marks and detonated too, throwing up a beautiful geyser of steam, smoke, and fire from secondary explosions. As Lazarus drew nearer and more detail could be made out, the flames were tinged blue - the telltale sign of a collapsing Abyssal ship's shields and damage to their armaments. Shields that made them nigh-impervious to bullets, shells, and flames, but were downed by shipgirl-to-shipgirl weaponry in several hits.

As the destroyers of Battle Group Lazarus encircled their foe and Unit One cut power to its engines, Seiji methodically cracked his knuckles to hide the tremors in them. If they could pull this off, history was going to be made for sure! A live Abyssal ship taken into custody, and they could learn more about their foe!

The Re-class battleship was now clearly visible. Knee-deep in the water and emitting copious amounts of smoke from her damaged engines, she stared daggers at her captors and the approaching Unit One. Dents and scratches in her armour and clothes, as well as the telltale waft of smoke from the DD's guns, hinted at a short and decisive shootout. Shiranui in particular looked like she would freeze the battleship out of force of will alone. Walking up to the front of Unit One as it slowed to a stop, Seiji considered the sight before him, and wondered what exactly was he supposed to say. Stalling for time, he glanced at Amatsukaze and Shiranui: "Unload your APs and load all your guns with high explosive. Use of deadly force has been authorised." Technically, it was dangerous to him as well, but the HEs would probably sink the shield-less Abyssal shipgirl faster than Unit One.

"Enemy of humanity," he said, "You are to be taken in as a prisoner of war. Disarm your remaining equipment peacefully and we will not harm you further. Refuse to comply, however, and we will be bringing whatever's left of you."

" **Fools.** " The Re-class battleship growled. " **You are but a contemptible destroyer of the puddles you call your 'seas.' You are so unwise to attack us directly.** "

"And you fail to take your current situation into account," Seiji said. "You are damaged, outnumbered, and overpowered. The only options you have are the ones we are graciously giving you. Amatsukaze, Yukikaze - take her onboard. Akashi, the restraint, please."

"Rei's" eyes flared blue and she hissed as the two destroyers moved closer and grabbed her arms, dragging her towards the built-in stairs of Unit One. Akashi brought out a heavy iron collar with a small suite of electronics on it. A restraining device, she called it, that would effectively disable any shipgirl that it was placed on. As she handed Seiji the collar, Rei's eyes grew wide with recognition - then she burst into laughter.

Puzzled, Amatsukaze rapped their captive sharply with her gun barrel. "Oi. You find this funny? How about two shells in that face of yours?"

" **No, no, it's just...** " she replied, " **How ironic. Coincidental. Did you ever hear the tragedy of... Never mind.** "

Choosing to ignore its peculiar remarks, Seiji closed the collar around the captured shipgirl's neck. A magnetic clamp activated and it locked itself securely. "Right then," he said, "Escort the prisoner to the brig in the meantime, and-"

"Admiral!" Shoukaku cried, "Enemy aircraft on radar and closing fast! They're bombers! Recon fairy reports a massive fleet heading for us too!"

Seiji's blood ran cold. "Get moving!" he barked at a crew member. "Amatsukaze! Belay that, guard the prisoner on deck! Lazarus, _move!_ "

Alarms screeched as Unit One's engines rumbled to life. The fearsome drone of Abyssal bombers were almost upon them as Shiranui and Kagerou kicked up geysers, racing away from Unit One to spread themselves over a larger area. Seiji turned to face the three other shipgirls on deck. "You three, get into the water. We stand a better chance spread out than huddled together!"

They needed no telling twice. Shoukaku and Zuikaku hurried down the wet stairs - a tiny flight of steps that led from deck to the waterline - while Yukikaze opted to simply hop over the low guardrail and dive directly into the sea. The five shipgirls scattered just as Akashi took control of comms:

"The first wave of bombers are about to hit! All hands brace!" she screamed.

Seiji dived for the cover of the cabin, scraping his chin on the hard floor. He raised his hands to cover his neck-

 _SPLASH splash splash BOOM!_ The entire ship shuddered as a bomb hit, burrowed belowdecks, and detonated. Of course they'd be targeted, Seiji cursed inwardly. They were the easiest target by far to hit compared to five fleeing shipgirls on the water, it was a miracle that more bombs hadn't hit. "Damage report!" he shouted, and coughed as he inhaled acrid smoke. A door from the decks below opened and a man stumbled out, frantically smothering his smouldering overalls. "There's a fire, Admiral!" he reported, "Main magazine is intact, but not for much longer!"

"Get the extinguishers moving now! Do not let the fire spread!" Seiji shouted over the wailing fire alarm. "Amatsukaze! Status- oh."

Said destroyer was on the deck, fainted from the shock of the bomb's impact mere metres away from her. Her chest rose and fell, so at least she was not too badly damaged. But nearby, the captive Rei was gloating at the scenes of destruction, her eyes glowing with suppressed mirth.

" **How does it feel?** " she rasped, her voice carrying over the sounds of antiaircraft fire and a wave of fighters launched by Shoukaku. " **Come on, human, put up a little fight! Such a bitter struggle. Your end is determinate... And it is carrying a gun. Lots of guns.** "

The Re-class battleship looked to the left, and following her line of sight, Seiji felt his heart drop into his stomach. In the distance, the blue-and-black dots of an Abyssal fleet was closing in. Trails of sea foam led from behind the island, on the opposite side of where they had been hiding just a awhile earlier. So he *had* been correct, to his bitter disappointment - the Abyssals had laid their own trap by springing his wide open.

"This.. This is not over!" he gritted his teeth, "We will complete our mission by all means necessary! Some losses are acceptable," he tightened his grip on the unconscious Amatsukaze. But his voice sounded hollow and the Abyssal vessel knew it. She laughed, and it sounded human - if recorded on ancient magnetic tape, played backwards, and with horrible feedback. She laughed and leered at Admiral Seiji with equal parts hate and arrogance.

" **The Code is not for the likes of you,** " she said cryptically again. " **Your destruction is Its will and we are Its instruments. Your losses will be final, your losses will be- _urk_** "

*Twang!* A bow was strung and released next to him, the arrow flew straight and true, and buried itself into the enemy's chest, right where a human heart would be. Flushed red in anger, Shoukaku's battle dress was still dripping seawater as she sheathed her bow and turned to Seiji: "Admiral, are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm alright," Seiji snapped back to reality, and grunted as he lifted Amatsukaze. "Can't leave anyone exposed with all the bombers around. Is that all your fighters in the air?"

Shoukaku nodded. "Yes, Admiral. Zuikaku launched hers as well and is collecting her own bombers. But Admiral, the enemy fleet... They're coming fast!"

"Admiral!" The coxswain of Unit One approached. "The ship is beginning to flood. The combined weight of four shipgirls will make it worse. We can take the injured, but..." he glanced at Shoukaku, and back at Seiji.

"I understand," Seiji said, raising a hand to cut off Shoukaku before she could reply. "But we need you to do your best. We must bring back the captured enemy at all costs. I'm counting on you!" The coxswain's brow twitched, but an enemy plane chose to make a bombing run at that very instant. "Incoming!" Akashi shrieked, prompting both men to duck.

Shoukaku, however, remained calm and drew her bow. "I will protect the fleet," she muttered under her breath. As the drone of the bomber grew louder, she notched a single light arrow, specifically to take down aircraft, drew her bow to its maximum draw- and fired. The resulting _bang!_ was proof of the skill and prowess she had honed for years in training. Bits of shattered aircraft peppered the deck and dinged off her armour, but she had saved them.

For now.

.-.

Twenty-seven Abyssal ships of the First Chaotic Fleet cruised at full speed in hot pursuit of the human battle group. Composed of two carriers, seven battleships, five submarines, nine destroyers and four cruisers, the fleet was en route to rendezvous with their flagship, Rei-of-Blue-Steel. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary until she sent the carrier Ama-of-Crashing-Waves a message, so rushed that it had to be drafted and sent in a hurry. Still, 'UNDER ATTK HUMAN SHIPS SEND BOMBRS' left nothing open to interpretation, and with that, Ama launched her three bomber squadrons and lazily passed on attack vectors.

"Humans, we smell them, we sees them," the Abyssal tactical net crawled with messages like these. Snorting at their show of bloodlust, Ama glanced at the flow of data from her own reconnaissance drone and uploaded an announcement to the fleet's tactical net.

"FIRST FLEET ALL HANDS ADV TO ENEMY POSITION," she dictated to her tact-net module, "BATTLESHIP FIRE SUPPORT; CRUISERS FLANK; DESTROYERS RESCUEMISSION. RETRIEVE REI-OF-BLUE-STEEL." She typed out their commander's name in full to underline the importance of their suicidal role. Though she heard some grunts and curses of dissent, Ama's word was mostly obeyed and the ships maxed their engine output together, churning the sea and making choppy waves in their wake. Guns clanked as the battleships loaded their massive 16-inch guns, elevated, and fired at the distant scatter of blobs. This would be a quick battle.

.-.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Kagerō cried out as shells rained down all around her. Seawater splashed and hissed as it made contact with her guns, still steaming after firing the last of her AA shells. Kagerō twirled and danced, skipping over the roiling waters, as she struggled to maintain her overall course at best speed. Still more bombers were coming to harass her, but the aircraft from Shoukaku and Zuikaku were doing very good jobs at distracting them - her only damage taken so far was debris when one bomber had blown up right over her head, the spray of shrapnel threatening to put her radio out of commission. Thankfully, that hadn't happened yet.

"Where are we going, commander?" she asked over comms, squinting just as another shell landed nearby and sprayed water in every direction. "Are we retreating? We cannot possibly fight a fleet that large!"

"No, we can't," Seiji said grimly, "Not on our own. Head for head, they have the numerical superiority." Seiji, massaging his sore arm, glanced at the charts with the locations of the mines. "But we still have a lot of tools at our disposal."

Shoukaku's recon fairy painted a dismal situation, that much was obvious. Four vessels were breaking off from the main group to flank from both sides, nine small ships, presumably destroyers, were rushing straight for them, and his courses were limited by the constant need to evade shells from the main group, which was gaining on them. Sooner or later, they would make a mistake and the enemy will kill them.

Seiji wasn't technically lying though, when he said that they had options. It was just that they only had one option remaining: the unexploded mines at the edge of the minefield. Their present course would take the battle group right to the end - still the wrong way if they were returning to base, but they did not have any other options. All the cover was behind the Abyssal fleet.

"Akashi, give me control of the remaining mines!" Seiji said. Unit One was a mess of activity: between the three men struggling to patch the holes, bail water, and run evasive maneuvers, Akashi was busy coaxing every last bit of power out of their engines. "Here you go!" she cried, and tossed her equipment bag at him. Catching it, Seiji stumbled and groaned, but he quickly pulled out the mine's control system, hastily wired to a radio set. Fifty lights glittered red, blue, and green with three buttons on the side labelled 'ARM', 'TRIGGER', and 'REMOTE.' Crude, but effective. Poking at the buttons, Seiji armed the remaining mines and checked Shoukaku's recon fairy. It was low on fuel and attempting to circle back, but it confirmed that the oncoming Abyssal fleet would enter the remaining unexploded mines in a few more minutes.

A bomb landed too close to Unit One, detonated, and knocked everyone to the deck with the resulting explosion. Feeling his sore lips and tasting iron, Seiji spat to clear his mouth and grabbed the fallen controls. Several smaller screens were cracked and no longer functioning - soon, he would be entirely reliant on his shipgirls for information.

Further away, one of the bombs Kagerō was dodging missed her, but exploded anyway and she felt shrapnel smack her feet mid-jump. Her foot turned at an unnatural angle and she fell, feeling a sickening crack and an immediate loss of propulsion. "Admiral!" she screamed, but her voice was cut off by seawater and only bubbles escaped her mouth. Surfacing, the sea was tossed more ways than a salad as bombers and torpedo fighters focused their attention on her. She surfaced, struggling to stand, and keyed the battle group's channel.

"Kagerō requesting urgent assistance!" the comms in Unit One crackled to life, "My right ankle is broken; out of anti-aircraft ammo, I cannot hold the course! Requesting urgent assistance!"

"Yukikaze!" Seiji hit the comms, "Assist Kagerō and tow her to safety. Bring her to Unit One!" Not waiting to hear her reply, Seiji jogged over to where Amatsukaze was slumped against the wall. "Wake up, Amatsukaze, get up!" he shook her shoulder. "We need you!" On deck, Shoukaku fired her antiaircraft guns, trying her best to dissuade incoming bombs and fighters, but they danced out of range of her guns.

Blinking her eyes, Amatsukaze stirred and rubbed her aching ears. Seiji dragged her up on her feet. "Can you stand? he asked. She nodded, glanced at the Re-class battleship tied to the deck, and cocked her head as though remembering what had happened. "Oh- Ah! Admiral! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed.

"Just launch and get ready for combat," Seiji growled. "The enemy is upon us!" He practically pushed her towards the wet stairs - on the other side of Unit One, a coughing and spluttering Kagerō was ushered up by Yukikaze. Both of them were soaked, oil-splattered, and ash dotted their faces, but Yukikaze did not stop moving. "Yukikaze has recovered Kagerō!" she proudly reported.

"That's fine, then. Return and prepare! Shoukaku, you too," Seiji added, "Get in the water. We're about to fight, and if I'm not mistaken," he glanced at the flickering digital clock on the wall, "Zuikaku's bombers are about to run out of fuel. Go and assist her!"

Both shipgirls looked at Seiji. Yukikaze hopped back into the sea with a smile, but Shoukaku shared a concerned glance with Seiji. "Admiral, will you be fine by yourself?" she said.

"I'm fine," Seiji said. "Don't worry about me so much. Go!" Shoukaku turned and hurried down the wet stairs.

On the main screen, the leading edge of the mines now divided the Abyssal fleet into their main group and the thirteen ships accelerating towards them. The smaller group too, was right in the middle of about six or seven mines.

There was no need to think. Seiji placed his thumb on 'TRIGGER' and mashed it for dear life.

On Unit One, they heard nothing, but a shockwave passed through the ocean, the equivalent of a shrill scream in an empty room that shook them and knocked them off-balance briefly. Though they were too far away to see it, the Abyssal fleet was thrown into disarray - the main group was blocked off by the mines, but the destroyers were caught in the worst of it. Two destroyers took direct hits, flooded, and sank immediately. An errant mine close to the surface took off a leg of a third, forcing her to cling onto an undamaged destroyer and causing them to trail behind. The rest of the destroyers stumbled at the lack of buoyancy and distracted them. Confused, the flanking cruisers slowed down and tried to make contact with the fleet.

This was their moment, and Seiji pounced on it. Unit One rattled as fighters circling above hammered it with gunfire. "Destroyers! Load all torpedoes and launch, targeting the enemy destroyers!" he ordered. "Shoukaku, Zuikaku, refuel your bombers, and direct them to the battleships flanking us. Concentrate on one at a time! Kagerō, load up on antiaircraft ammunition, and defend Unit One!"

"Yes, Admiral!" She replied, limping down to the main magazine chute and grabbing shells. Akashi slammed a panel shut and wiped soot off her forehead, and said to Seiji, "Admiral! Engine's taken a hit. Best speed I can give you without breaking the radiators is three-quarters!"

"Three-quarters it is then," Seiji said. "Set course directly for docks! Coxswain! Radio port, report that we need assistance immediately! We have the target and are taking heavy fire!"

"Yes sir," he grumbled, but reached for the comms. Up on deck, Kagerō bit her lip as she fired away at the bombers circling overhead. In the distance, three plumes of flame, water, and smoke bloomed. The fire was tinged blue - Abyssal ships were being destroyed! Could they make it? A warning buzzer on Seiji's desk screamed in a shrill tone! "Incoming artillery fire!" Akashi bellowed, "Brace!"

"Fire? But from where?" was all Seiji could think to himself, when the first volley hit.

 _BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!_ The deck of Unit One quaked as six shells rained down from above. Four hit, two missed, but the resulting secondary explosion threw them to the deck. Seiji hit something hard and blacked out.

Silence. Cool blackness. There was no pain, no dull thuds of shelling.

Something scratching his cheek, reminding him of his mother when he was younger. A finger?

It trailed down to his neck, encircled - and squeezed.

Seiji's eyes snapped open and reality came rushing back. Gasping for breath. Seiji weakly tugged at the hand around his throat, but it held him in a vise grip. Either he was hallucinating or it was a trick of the light, but blue flames seemed to dance from Rei's one remaining eye as she ground her teeth and glared at him.

" **You shed my sisters' blood, human,** " she spat, " **And for that, you must die!** "

Black dots appeared in his vision. Seiji opened his mouth, struggling for air that wasn't there. His feet dangled uselessly as she lifted him into the air-

 _Phut._

Instantly, the Re-class Battleship let go of him, and Seiji collapsed onto the deck. Kagerō's unconscious form lay prone next to him, her guns jammed open by hastily loaded anti-aircraft rounds. If not her, then who...?

" **Ah...** " Rei gasped in pain, found no release, and fell to her knees. A wooden arrowhead slick with blue-black blood protruded from her chest. Footsteps echoed from the wet stairs - and never before had Seiji been more grateful than to see Shoukaku and Zuikaku hurrying up to deck, each with an arrow in bow and ready to fire.

"Absolutely not," Shoukaku snarled, "So long as I draw breath, you will never lay a hand on any of us!"

The two carriers fired in unison. Closing his eyes, Seiji could block out the sight, but he would never un-hear the death rattle of the Abyssal ship.

.-.

Seiji supposed the Navy would ask him to write his own post-mortem if it ever came to that. With his hands wrapped in bandages and a thick piece of gauze at the side of his head, he had fumbled with the keyboard and couldn't type more than a few words without making a typo. In the end, he had given up and resorted to scratching out on a notepad. The process was slow; the last time he had done this by hand was when he had just graduated as new commissiom five years ago.

The day had been saved by timely reinforcements from the Okinawan naval forces, Unit One had been towed back, and Battle Group Lazarus was rushed to the medical centre. Kagerō's was yet to be submitted because she was having her ankle cast. On his desk lay several submitted reports from the rest of the destroyers. Shoukaku and Zuikaku's reports too, were delayed by their need to clean, refuel, and refit all their planes after battle. They would have their hands full anyway...

Seiji grimaced as he recall his near-death at the hands of the Abyssal ship. It was truly fortunate that Shoukaku's timely actions had saved his life, else it would be him and not Rei that would be lying in a box in pieces, waiting to be examined. He owed her. Still, the report on Unit One was not going to write itself, so Seiji resorted to cooking a believable, if extremely vague account, of how the two carriers had returned in the nick of time. Painfully aware of how it sounded like a teenager's fantastical drabbling, Seiji finished the report with a boldly worded request for more antiaircraft measures and personal commendations for each shipgirl in Lazarus.

A soft knock on the door sounded just as he signed his name on the bottom. "Come in," he called, and the door opened to reveal exactly who he needed to see: Shoukaku and Zuikaku, with identical sheets of paper tied together. Both of them had changed out of their wet and dirty uniforms into vest and slacks. "Admiral! We've come to submit our After Action Reports!" They announced.

"Just leave it on my desk here," Seiji groaned. "That'll be all for today. Thank you girls for your hard work." He stifled a yawn and limped over to the cupboard at the side of the office, found a bottle of juice, and poured himself a glass. The sweet sugary drink was cool to the taste, a throwback to his cadet days. Whispers could be heard from behind his back: "Nah, you... Go on ahead, I'll... Later." Seconds later, the door shut.

"Care for a drink?" Seiji spoke aloud. "It's a coincidence you arrived just as I was about to ask you for some help... Shoukaku."

He grinned as he turned around, but Shoukaku was harder to embarrass than that. Rolling her eyes, she accepted the glass and glanced at his desk. "Are you going to ask me to write reports again, Admiral?"

Seiji chuckled nervously. "It's not that. It's, uh... Well, I just want to say..."

"...I just want to thanks you for saving my life!" he blurted out quickly before he could stop himself. "If not for your timely intervention and swift return, I..."

" _I think I would have died_ ," he tried to say, but he couldn't say it. In the end, he settled for "I\ would have a lot of regrets, I guess..." Shoukaku stared at him, blinking for a moment, and just as Seiji was wondering if she was taking him seriously, she began to giggle lightly.

"Admiral! You don't need to be so serious! I- I was just doing my job, and besides, without you to give orders, we might not have made it out unscathed at all!" she said. Nodding in agreement, Seiji murmured and thought about something else to say.

"Well, don't just stand there, finish your reports! Shoukaku can take care of them later when you're done writing them. Is there anything else you need?" she asked. Bringing Seiji firmly back to earth, he nodded and limped back to his desk. He retrieved his drafted report and said, "Well, now that you mention it, I really can't type with hands like these, so..."

Shoukaku sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Admiral, you should know that I don't like typing at all, you know? This will be the last time I transcribe something for you!" she said, but she had said so too just a week ago. Seiji just grinned and handed her the notepad. "Thank you, Shoukaku. I really... I really appreciate your work." 

"...You're welcome."

 **tbc.**

 **I only intended to write about 2-3k words, got carried away, and then decided to cut it short. The Escalation will be released next week!**

 **-Destination**


End file.
